Nintendo and Intelligent Systems lately made good on their promise from last month, debuting the first GameCube game in the Fire Emblem strategy-RPG series in the pages of V-Jump. Fire Emblem: Aoi Honoo no Kiseki will see release in Japan this winter, and a North American release around that time is a very likely prospect.

The subtitle of this latest game means "Trail of the Blue Fire," although there may be a certain double meaning involved. If "kiseki" were spelled with another character, it would mean "Miracle of the Blue Fire."

As far as less trivial matters are concerned, the GameCube game still bears a structural resemblance to its predecessors on the Game Boy Advance and past platforms. Though its battlefield and characters are 3D this time, the field is still divided up into a rigid square grid, and combat progresses in the usual turn-based fashion.

The game's hero is a young boy named Ike, the son of a mercenary captain, Grail. The plot follows Grail's mercenary unit (including vice-captain Tiamat, for whom the term "fiery redhead" was coined, loyal chief of staff Senerio, and Ike's younger sister Mist) around the war-torn continent of Terius, as Ike comes of age and learns more of his father's mysterious past.

A little bird has told us that we may see this game at E3, so expect a first look at the latest Fire Emblem and more news leading into the show.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in 1UP.